Closet structure



April 25, 1939. e. BRAIN CLOSET STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 21, 1936 w T N E v N Patented Apr. 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOSET STRUCTURE Application August 21, 1936, Serial No. 97,235

1 Claim.

My present invention relates to a vitreous closet structure and more particularly concerns a vitreous closet bowl which is silent in its operation and in which entrapped air is vented above the normal water level therein.

It has been widely recognized that prior types of bowls have been unnecessarily noisy in operation and that one of the major contributing factors to such noise is the escape of entrapped air from cavities in the bowl structure through the water content of the bowl, thus producing a bubbling and gurgling noise. A number of closet structures have been produced which have materially reduced the amount of noise arising in connection with the operation of closet structures and these have taken various forms. As a rule, however, no structure with which I am familiar has actually made it possible to vent entrapped air from bowl cavities above the normal water level in the bowl in a simple and efiective manner without unduly complicating the structure of the bowl and without giving rise to other disadvantages. As a result this art has been seeking for a simple solution to the problem of eliminating entrapped air during flushing operations of the bowl without causing complications in the manufacture of the bowl and without producing other disadvantages.

It is accordingly one of the objects of my present invention to produce a closet structure, i. e., a closet bowl, which, while retaining its simplicity of construction and ease of manufacture, effectively and noiselessly eliminates entrapped air.

Another object of my invention is to produce a closet structure, i. e., a closet bowl, wherein a special vent construction is provided for air eliminating purposes above the normal water level in the bowl Without interfering in any manner with the operation of the bowl and in fact improving the effectiveness of the flushing operations.

More specifically, an object of my invention resides in constructing certain of the cavity-defining members of a closet structure so as to vent air from such cavity above the normal water level in the bowl during flushing operations and at the same time rendering the flushing operations more efiective.

Other and further objects and advantages will be understood by those skilled in the art or will be apparent or pointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 illustrates a vertical medial cross- Similar numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the various views of the 10 drawing.

Referring to Figure 1, the closet structure is designated as a whole by the numeral Ill. The closet structure I8 is made up of a supporting or foot construction II, a bowl proper l2, and a hollow rim l3. The rim is provided in. the usual manner with a number of downwardly directed apertures l4 therethrough so as to direct water for flushing operations in the form of a number of small angularly directed high velocity streams. Water enters as by way of intake I5 and is discharged from the the hollow rim via apertures l 4.

The bowl I2 is provided with a seal passage l6 defined by the rear wall ll of the bowl and the seal wall l8 which, in the construction shown, extends angularly downwardly from the rear underside of the rim. The seal passage [6 connects by way of the passageway H] to syphon downleg 20, the lower end of which. is provided with a fiat surface 2| normal to the vertical axis of the downleg and. thereafter the downleg terminates in a discharge outlet 22 which is adapted to be connected to a soil pipe or the like, not shown. The syphon dowhleg is substantially vertical and is free from constrictions or obstructions and the surface 2| acts to impart a temporary recoil to a column of water falling in the downleg in order to start syphonic action.

The jet plate 23 is disposed in the forward portion of the bowl, and, as will be seen from Figure 1, this jet plate is substantially parallel to the adjacent (the front) portion of bowl [2 but is spaced therefrom, thus providing a jet cavity between the jet plate and the bowl which is designated by the numeral 24. This jet plate is secured in position in any desired or recognized manner in this art and it will be particularly noted that in addition to being spaced from the contiguous bowl portion the jet plate 23 terminates below the underside of rim IS. The space thus produced is substantially occupied by the rim extension member 25 which, as will be apparent, is united with the under side of the rim and extends toward the upper end of the jet plate but terminates short thereof and is provided with a prong or tang 26 which overlies but is spaced from the upper end of said jet plate.

This construction provides a passageway 21 between the upper end of jet plate 23 and the rim extension prong or tang 26. The normal water level in the bowl is as shown in Figure 1 and. it will therefore be evident that the passage 2! just referred to lies considerably above the normal waterlevel. This passage 2'! constitutes what I term an air eliminator and, during flushing operations, instead of causing entrapped air in jet cavity 24 to be forced out under the water level at the lower end of jet plate 23, such entrapped air is quickly and noiselessly eliminated, due to the fact that it is in communication at all times with the atmosphere and thus prevents noisy operation of the bowl as will be understood.

In other words, assuming that air eliminator passage 21 were not provided, when flushing operations occur entrapped air in jet cavity 24 would be forced out beneath the water level between the lower end of the jet plate and the adjacent portion of bowl l2. This causes bubbling and gurgling noises which are undesirable and unnecessary. By providing air eliminator passage 21, I cause entrapped air in jet cavity 24 to merely flow into the atmosphere which is accomplished instantaneously and silently.

In the modified form of the air eliminator forming my present invention as shown in Figure 2, the rim extension 25 is provided withtwo prongs or tangs 28 which form a more or less U-shaped construction and the two prongs or tangs straddle but are spaced from the upper end of the jet plate 23, thus providing a passage 29. This, under some conditions, is a more desirable construction not only because it positively insures the elimination of air in a quiet manner but because the two-pronged arrangement acts as a baffie, at the same time making it less likely that vented air will flow back into the jet cavity and be discharged in a noisy manner as above outlined. Otherwise the construction of Figure 2 is the same as that of Figure 1, as is tion in connection with eliminating air from a 5 jet cavity, it is to be understood that the same or similar construction can be used for venting entrapped air in other locations in sanitary fixtures where the principles herein defined apply.

Likewise, the air eliminator is applicable to other types of closet bowls than that of the type illus-' trated and it is within the limits and scope of my invention to apply the air eliminator structure and principles as above set forth to any type of closet structure and to any other plumbing or sanitary fixture. Rather, the invention is to be defined by the subjoined claim which itself is to be read in the light of the foregoing description.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 4

A closet structure comprising a bowl normally full of liquid almost to its overflow level, a hollow rim on said bowl, provided with bowl flushing apertures, a seal wall near the back of the bowl,

integral with the rim and projecting normally into the liquid in such bowl and forming with the back of the bowl a seal passage leading to a siphon down-leg, a jet plate spaced from and parallel to the front of the bowl extending from a point somewhat below said rim into the liquid in the bowl and to a point near the bottom of the bowl and forming with the bowl a jet cavity and a rim extension substantially occupying the space between the rim and the topof the jet plate but terminating in spaced relation to the top of the jet plate thus providing a com municating passage between the jet cavity and the unenclosed atmosphere above the liquid in said bowl, whereby air in said jet cavity is noiselessly discharged directly to the atmosphere during flushing of said closet structure.

GEORGE BRAIN. 

